The new primocane-fruiting raspberry cultivar designated as ‘PBBrasp1381’ is described herein. Botanically known as Rubus idaeus L., this new variety resulted from a hand-pollinated cross of female parent ‘Pacific Gema’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,080), a release from the same program, and the male parent ‘Pacific Starlet’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,046). Pollination occurred in April 2012 and seeds from this controlled cross were subsequently harvested, cleaned, germinated, and established as seedlings in spring 2013 in Watsonville, Calif., Santa Cruz County, USA.
‘PBBrasp1381’ was first identified in a substrate block, where seedlings had individually been planted into 3 liter pots, in September 2013 in Watsonville, Calif. This selection was first propagated asexually by crown division (of the original potted mother-plant) in autumn 2013 in Watsonville, Calif. The crown on the original plant was parted into basal cane pieces (approximately 15 cm long) with root attached and planted into soil, in a selection plot elsewhere on the farm, resulting in a 10-fold increase in plant material. Harvest and postharvest data were collected from this larger plot of ‘PBBrasp1381’ for two years, from 2014 through 2016.
In January 2014, additional root pieces from the original mother-plant were planted into an on-site greenhouse. Two actively growing etiolated shoots were forced from roots, transplanted and potted. Once established, these shoots were sent to Lafayette, Oreg., USA, where vegetative material was explanted and established in vitro for micropropagation. Subsequent asexual propagation was done on-site in Watsonville, Calif. and, along with tissue-cultured plantlets, ‘PBBrasp1381’ was evaluated extensively over the next several years for performance and genetic stability.
The present cultivar, ‘PBBrasp1381’ offers many advantages over the existing cultivar and maternal parent, ‘Pacific Gema’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,080). Particularly for average fruit size, ‘PBBrasp1381’ is noteworthy, for it is considered a jumbo berry and is much larger than ‘Pacific Gema’, on average. Further, berries are extremely firm and detach more easily from the receptacle than ‘Pacific Gema’. Berries of ‘PBBrasp1381’ are more broadly-conic and elongate in shape (versus the narrow conic shape of ‘Pacific Gema’). Yield of ‘PBBrasp1381’ is also greater than ‘Pacific Gema’, on average, due to its superior vigor and berry weight. The ease of fruit detachment and improved yield offers significant advantages to growers, who require fast picking speeds to maintain harvest efficiency. Fruit color and gloss of ‘PBBrasp1381’ are similar to that of ‘Pacific Gema’. In addition, root vigor and floricane budbreak for ‘PBBrasp1381’ is superior over ‘Pacific Gema’.
In contrast to the male parent ‘Pacific Starlet’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,046), the present cultivar is significantly greater in vigor, plant fitness and offers larger fruit. In particular, the amount of suckers that ‘PBBrasp1381’ produces is two-fold of its paternal parent. This improvement is of significant importance to growers, who rely upon the regenerative ability of suckers, in order to guarantee subsequent crops. Floricane budbreak of ‘PBBrasp1381’ is more consistent than ‘Pacific Starlet’, leading to more reliable spring crops and a balanced cropload among floricane and primocane cycles.
Thus, these characteristics help define ‘PBBrasp1381’ as a new and distinct cultivar of primocane-fruiting raspberry. ‘PBBrasp1381’ may be recognized by its high vigor, strong suckering habit, uniform floricane budbreak, extreme vigor and firmness, large broadly-conic berries of jumbo size and high gloss, and which consistently yield more than existing parental varieties within the same program.